As a Chinese revolutionary leader and statesman, Sun Yat-sen ( 孙中山 ) is considered to be the "Father of Modern China". He had a significant influence in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty ( 清朝 ) and establishment of the Republic of China ( 中华民国 ) . A founder of the Kuomintang ( 国民党 ) , Sun was the first provisional president of the Republic of China ( 中华民国大总统 ) in 1912. He developed a political philosophy known as the three Principles of the People ( 三民主义 ) : "nationalism ( 民族 ) , democracy ( 民主 ) , and people's livelihood ( 民生 ) ."

Sun Yat-sen was born to a peasant family in Zhongshan city ( 中山市 ), Guangdong province ( 广东省 ) . After receiving a few years of local education, at age 13, Sun went to live with an older brother, who had immigrated to Honolulu ( 火奴鲁鲁 ) . His years in Hawaii , where he was taught by American Christian missionaries, caused him to develop a strong interest in the American System of economics, of which he became the foremost proponent worldwide during his life. Sun became the head of an organization devoted to these ideas. He incorporated these ideas, later in life, in two highly influential books: The Vital Problem of China (1917) and International Development of China (1921).

With dissatisfaction with the Qing government of China , he began his political career by attempting to organize reform groups of Chinese exiles in Hong Kong . In October 1894 he founded the Xing Zhong Society ( 兴中会 ) . For the following 16 years, Sun was an exile in Europe, the United States , Canada , and Japan , raising money for his revolutionary party and bankrolling uprisings in China . On October 10, 1911, a military uprising at Wuchang ( 武昌起义 ) began a process that ended over two thousand years of imperial rule in China. When he learned of the successful rebellion against the Qing emperor from press reports, Sun immediately returned to China from the United States .

On December 29 at Nanjing ( 南京 ) , a meeting of representatives from provinces elected Sun as the provisional President of the Republic of China and set the New Year's Day of 1912 as the first day of the First Year of the Republic. After the swearing in, Sun Yat-sen telexed all provinces to elect and send new senators to establish the National Assembly of the Republic of China. Then the provisional government organizational guidelines and the provisional law of the Republic were declared as the basic law of the country by the Assembly.

The provisional government declared by Sun was in a very weak position. The southern provinces of China had declared independence from the Qing dynasty, but most of the northern provinces had not done so. Moreover, the provisional government did not have military forces of its own, and its control over elements of the New Army ( 新军 ) that had mutinied was limited, and there were still significant forces which had not declared against the Qing. The major issue before the provisional government was to seek the support of Yuan Shikai ( 袁世凯 ) who controlled the Beiyang Army ( 北洋军阀 ) , the military of northern China. After promising Yuan the presidency of the new Republic, Yuan sided with the revolution and forced the emperor to abdicate.

Opposition developed to Yuan's dictatorial methods. In 1913 Sun led an unsuccessful revolt against Yuan, and he was forced to seek asylum in Japan , where he reorganized the Kuomintang. He returned to China in 1917, and in 1921 he was elected president of a self-proclaimed national government at Canton . To develop the military power needed for the Northern Expedition against the militarists at Beijing, he established the Whampoa Military Academy ( 黄埔军校 ) .